Hip hop was well represented at this year's Grammys, with OutKast, producer-singer Pharrell Williams, Jay-Z and his girlfriend Beyoncé all winning honours. Not bad for a genre that wasn't even acknowledged by the Grammys until 1989. Here's a timeline of hip-hop's Grammy history:
1989 - Grammys give out the first rap award - for best performance - to the lightweight Parents Just Don't Understand by Will Smith (known then as The Fresh Prince) and DJ Jazzy Jeff.
The rap community claims that voters ignored the best artists, like KRS-One, Big Daddy Kane and NWA, whose debut album Straight Outta Compton launched gangsta rap.
1990 - MC Hammer's megaplatinum Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em is nominated for best album; his U Can't Touch This wins best rap performance. The rap community is still upset, especially by best rap performance nomination for Vanilla Ice, widely considered a fraud by knowledgeable fans.
Public Enemy boycott the show, despite their nomination for best performance, accusing Grammys of racism.
1993 - Arrested Development are the first rap act to win the best new artist trophy. They also win best group rap performance for Tennessee.
1999 - Lauryn Hill is the first rap act to win the best album category with The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, a mainly R&B album with rap and hip hop touches. She sets a record with five awards, which is the most ever for a female artist. Jay-Z's Vol. 2...Hard Knock Life wins best rap album, but he boycotts the awards show, saying the Grammys don't respect rap.
2000 - Burying the legacy of Vanilla Ice, the well-respected Eminem becomes the first white rapper to win the rap category, taking best rap album over Busta Rhymes, Nas, Missy Elliott and The Roots. Also wins best rap solo performance.
2001 - Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP, which slurs gays and women, is the focus of protests after being nominated for album of the year. Eminem loses best album to Steely Dan, but sweeps the rap categories.
2004 - OutKast win album of the year for the genre-busting double CD, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below - Sapa-ap